


Dark Waters

by SoraxSilverheart01



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dark Theme, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Male Slash, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, mermaids exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-08-22 23:53:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8305958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoraxSilverheart01/pseuds/SoraxSilverheart01
Summary: They were never supposed to meet, but Fate had brought them together. A merman who wished to be human and a human who wished to be free from their burden. If only they had known what fate had in store for them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a dream I had and really wanted to write out. Thanks to my amazing friend who edited my mistakes, you are truly a life saver.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

This is a story of two people who met under unusual circumstances and managed to fall in love with each other. Perhaps it was fate that had brought them together for their own amusement. Either way, they had met. A merman who wished to be human and a human who wanted to leave humanity for a better life; even if it cost them their lives. Little did the two know what fate had in store for them; for if they did, then perhaps they would have fought it and had led a happy, fulfilling life without knowing each other. Yet, they met. This is their story.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Weak moonlight shone through the mouth of the cave and the merman sighed as he knew that he would be unable to escape from the cave without causing his scales to fall off. The tide was too low and the rocks that lined the mouth of the cave were too jagged to allow an easy escape. The merman tugged at his auburn hair in frustration as sapphire eyes gazed out of the cave’s mouth. He had only himself to blame as he had wanted to observe the humans that would play on the shores of the beach. He didn’t dare go near them when they were in the water, but when he saw that some would venture into the cave, he had his chance to observe them without getting caught. He had watched them for hours and didn’t pay attention to the sun setting or the tides receding.

He only wanted to be human and the only way to do that was to eat the flesh and blood of a human. It was the only way without any repercussions unlike spells and potions could cause. If he could get a human that was by themselves then he would kill them to eat their flesh. It was easy hypothetically, but it was hard as no one had ventured into the cave by themselves and now it was late.

The sound of footsteps echoed off the walls of the cave and the merman quickly sunk below the surface of the water. He waited to see what was coming in the cave and he was shocked to see a human by themselves. He knew it was late from the position of the moon and from what he had gleaned about humans was that they would normally be asleep in bed. Yet, here was a human by themselves.

The merman watched the human for a few minutes in curiosity as they continued to walk deeper into the cave. The human stopped when he was at the edge of where the water stopped and dropped—this was where the merman currently stayed—and stared into the dark waters. The human had black hair that he wore as what the humans called an undercut with green eyes that reminded the merman of the kelp forests that he would swim in when he wanted to be alone. The human was tall and the merman figured he must be taller than he was if they were to be next to each other and their build reminded him of some of the hunters of his school. They were beautiful.

Despite the human’s beauty, the merman saw his chance to be human and he took it. He propelled himself out of the water and knocked the human against the cave’s floor. He held the human down by the shoulder’s and locked his mouth against the human’s throat to rip it out, but paused. The human wasn’t fighting him back and it confused him. It should be normal for any living being that breathed oxygen to fight back against their attacker, but the human wasn't even putting up a weak struggle. The human just laid there limp and complacent. He made a clicking sound to express his confusion as he leaned away from the human to stare at its face.

“I want to die,” the human stated. He looked the merman straight in the eyes as he waited for the merman to finish him off. His eyes showed defeat as if he didn't care that he was about to die. The expression confused the merman as it was something he had seen multiple times on the warriors and hunters that were too old to continue living with the school.

The merman clicked again in confusion, but knew he could not voice it out in a tongue that human would be able to understand. Thus he took the human’s hand and brought it to his mouth where he pricked one of its fingers until there was a small amount of blood. He sucked on it until there was none. Through that time, he noticed that the human didn't flinch at what must've been a slight pain.

“Is it normal for a human to throw away their life?” The merman inquired with a tilt of his head. He had released the human’s hand and was trying to figure out what was going on in the human’s mind. The human looked young or at least that's what he was able to guess from their appearance.

The human just laughed and more confusion entered the merman’s mind.

“I do not believe what I said was something humorous. I do not see what is humorous in wanting to throw away your life.”

Once the human’s laughter had died down, they looked straight into the merman’s eyes. They still held a spark of mirth in their eyes from laughing and the merman couldn't help but think that the human looked even more beautiful when they were smiling.

“It wasn't what you said, it's just that even if I wanted to die, I can't,” the human answered. Their voice was low, that reminded the merman of his father, but it was also a soft, comforting tone that he wanted to keep hearing. “And to answer your first question, it is not, at least not if they are happy with their life.”

“Are you not happy with your life?”

“No, not truly.”

“So you came here to die then?”

“Not tonight.”

“Not tonight? Then why did you come?”

“I just wanted to get away for a bit,” the human answered. He looked towards the entrance of the cave with a sad smile. “It's pretty hard when you're constantly surrounded by people you don't even know.”

“Get away? Are humans not meant to be surrounded by people like parents or siblings?” The human was even more confusing than any ocean dweller he met. He thought that humans were social creatures from what he observed of the little groups of humans he'd seen playing on the shore. This human was contradicting what he learned.

This time, the sad smile flattened and there was no mirth that the merman had grown to like in the human’s eyes. Instead, it was just a vacant look that made the human’s feature turn cold. He didn't like that he was the one that caused it.

“The people I'm surrounded by isn't family.”

“Then who are they if not family?”

The human didn't answer his question and looked like he wouldn't anytime soon. And although he was curious, he knew that he shouldn't pry too hard.

Slowly, the human began to sit up from their prone position and the merman slipped off of the human so that he was sitting next to them. The human brought one knee up to rest their elbow on it and placed their head against their fist. It was a strange position to the merman, but it seemed natural to the human.

“Are you not going to kill me?” the human inquired.

“You are weird, Human,” the merman answered in lieu of answering the question.

“The name's Blake, by the way, not Human.”

“Blake?” The merman said, trying out the weird name on his tongue. It felt weird to say the human’s name, but it wasn't a bad weird, just different.

“Yeah, what about you? What is your name?”

“It might be hard for you to say it. We don't have a language that can be spoken by humans.”

This seemed to pique the human’s interest as they asked, “Can I hear it?”

The merman looked skeptical, but obliged the request. He said his name in a series of short clicks that just caused the human to draw his brows together in confusion. It was cute.

“You can call me whatever you want, I am not picky. Although, if I could give my name a tongue in your language, then maybe it is Lion? I am not sure, your tongue is confusing.”

“Then how about Leo? It still means lion, but it's not so weird when a human says it.”

The merman was silent for a few moments before he gave a slight nod of his head. “Leo, I like it.” He turned towards Blake. “Very well, you can call me Leo.”

Blake gave a slight smile that seemed to reach their eyes and Leo once more thought that the smile suited the human, Blake, more than that sad smile. Blake held out their hand to Leo with the smile still in place and Leo tentatively took it.

“It's nice to meet you, Leo.”

“Same, Blake.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited unfortunately as I was too impatient to get this chapter out. However, I hope you guys enjoy it. It's a lot more heavily dialogue than the last.

It wasn't long before Blake had to leave Leo alone in order to go home.  Leo didn't want the human to leave but knew that he couldn't keep them here when the tide was slowly rising now. He was dejected by the thought of not seeing the human again despite the short amount of time he knew the other. Having someone to talk to was a nice feeling that Leo hadn't felt since his parents had died all those moons ago. He missed it.

“You know, I don't really want to leave yet,” Blake said. “This was the most fun I've had in a long time.” 

Leo tilted his head in confusion for a bit. He didn't understand why Blake thought talking was fun, especially when they barely talked about anything. 

Blake must've seen the confusion on his face as they said, “It was fun because I got to meet you and learn a bit more about the ocean. I even learned a bit about merpeople.” 

“I don't understand why you wanted to know the reason for why I attacked you. I would think most humans would run when they hear we become human by ingesting their flesh and blood.” Leo had been completely baffled when Blake had exclaimed how cool it was that merpeople were capable of becoming human by ingesting human flesh. It still made no sense.

“Are you kidding me?!” Blake exclaimed in shock. “How can it not be cool? I mean, who knows how many people are actually merpeople.”

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there aren't that many of us who walk among humans. At least not now,” Leo said with an apologetic face.

“Really? So none of the merpeople want to be human today?” Blake inquired with disappointment in their voice.

“That's because humans in the old days would capture us for our flesh and blood,” Leo began. “It seemed that merpeople who turned human seemed to age slower and it caused a lot of humans to think that we were capable of giving immortality to them if they ingested our flesh when we were still merpeople.” Leo frowned as a memory surfaced in his mind of when he was younger and barely more than a hundred years old.

He was just a babe in many merpeople's eyes when he had witnessed his parents’ death. His dad had been captured by humans who believed they would be immortal and his father had tried to save him. They managed to escape but were both gravely wounded. He still remembered his parents trying to care for him despite their wounds.

Leo didn't realize his hand had moved to grasp the two scales that were hanging from his neck until Blake had spoken up.

“Those are scales around your neck, right? May I ask why you wear them?”

“These are my parents’ scales,” Leo answered as he slowly brought the scales away from his chest. He looked at the two scales with a sad smile.

“Are they not around anymore?”

“Yes, they died when one of those humans I mentioned attacked my dad and my father rescued him, but they were both gravely wounded. They didn't care that they were wounded though as their only concern was for me and my well-being.” Leo held the scales against his forehead as the image of his parents' last smiles entered his mind. Their smile was full of held back pain but so full of love for him before they each gave one of their scales to him.

“Leo, are you okay?” Blake asked in concern.

Leo looked to Blake with a sad smile. “Yeah, it's just been a while since I thought of them.” Leo looked back to the scales and pressed his lips to them. When he pulled away he just continued to stare at them. “I miss them.”

The sound of water rushing into the cave alerted Leo to the rising tide and how Blake had to get going.

“You should probably get going, the tide is rising,” Leo pointed out.

Blake looked towards the entrance of the cave with a frown. To Leo, it looked like they were debating on whether or not they should leave. Leo made the decision for them.

“I'll be around still if that is what you are worried about.”

Blake looked back at Leo with a smile as they stood up. “I'll see you tomorrow night after there's no one on the beach then.” They ruffled Leo's hair with the smile still in place. “Do you need help getting out of the cave?”

“It's not necessary, the tide will be high enough for me to swim out soon.”

“Are you sure?” Blake inquired with what Leo was starting to see as Blake’s concern expression. Their eyes seemed to soften in their concern for him from what he had seen.

“I'm sure. You don't need to worry, Blake,” Leo said with a small smile.

Blake frowned at Leo's answer before they got down on one knee and scooped Leo in their arms. This caused Leo to click in surprise at the sudden action.

Leo clicked in irritation at Blake and Blake just laughed at him which caused him to click even more in irritation. He crossed his arm as Blake began to walk out of the cave.

“Aww, Leo don't pout,” Blake said cheerfully. “Turn that frown upside down!”

Leo fought the smile that threatened to show at the human’s words. It was silly, but endearing to him. Instead of showing his smile, he turned to look towards the entrance of the cave. “You humans and your silly way with words.”

“I'm certain you merpeople have your own weird sayings.”

“I do not know what you would define as weird.”

“Like ‘Catfish got your tongue?’” Blake inquired with a voice that implied he had a smile on his face.

Leo looked at Blake with a confused expression. He was concerned for Blake as he had no idea why a catfish would have his tongue. It made no sense to him, but it must've been a human thing, so he voiced his thoughts aloud. “Why would a catfish have my tongue? They may have a large mouth, but they do not attack merpeople. Do catfish in your area attack people? For their tongue? Have a catfish attacked you for your tongue?”

Leo felt Blake shaking and he was even more confused than he was before. A catfish attacking people was a serious business that Blake shouldn't be laughing at.

“This is a great concern Blake, a catfish should not be attacking you for your tongue. It's not normal.” Leo frowned as he stared at Blake's wide smiling face.

“It's not like that,” Blake started. “I just thought that would be a weird saying you guys would say.” Blake finally stepped out of the cave’s mouth, slowly climbing over the rocks that blocked the majority of it.

When they were finally on the other side with the ocean right in front of them, Leo started to squirm in Blake’s arms. He wanted to be in the open waters to hunt and enjoy the feel of the currents dragging him back and forth in the depths of the oceans. He ached for it, but not as much as he ached to be a human.

“I got it, I got it, it’s times to let you back in the water now,” Blake said as they slowly lowered Leo back into the water. They stayed kneeling in the water until Leo slipped from their grasp.

Once out of Blake's arms, Leo quickly ducked his head under the water and swam a bit before resurfacing. He was farther away from Blake than he thought he was and quickly swam back to the human. He had a smile on his face as he addressed Blake.

“Thank you, Blake,” Leo thanked.

“It was nothing, Leo,” Blake said. “Though, perhaps next time, don’t forget about low tides.”

Leo looked down in embarrassment but didn’t deny what the human had to say. Yet, he didn’t mind that he had forgotten about the tides. After all, it was because of his forgetfulness that he got to meet Blake. Leo even told Blake what he thought.

Leo watched as Blake’s face started to turn a darker color than its normal tan color. It was intriguing to see as merpeople weren’t normally able to change color unless they had the ability for it. Were all humans like that or was it just Blake who was able to do that? Leo wanted to ask, but when he saw Blake open his mouth in a yawn and Leo definitely knew it was time for Blake to go.

“You should go get some sleep, Blake,” Leo said as he slowly pushed Blake towards the shore.

“I really don’t want to go, yet,” Blake stated as he reluctantly looked back to the shore. “If I go, will you be here tomorrow night?”

Leo just smiled. “I will, Blake, my home is in the area at the moment.”

“At the moment?”

“I’m a wanderer, Blake. I don’t have a home or a school to return to. I just wander the ocean until I find someplace I like and once I grow bored of it, I leave,” Leo explained. “It’s a good life for someone like me.”

“Don’t you get lonely though?”

Leo looked up towards Blake with a smile on his face. “Go home and sleep Blake, I will still be here for many days to come.”

“You promise?”

Leo paused before he slowly took off one of his parents’ scales from around his neck. The scale was a dark red that looked almost black if it wasn’t for the little bit of moonlight still in the sky. Leo held it up to Blake as an offering.

Blake’s eyes had widened when they saw the action and quickly began to shake their head. “Leo, I can’t take that! That’s one of your parents’ scales. They’re important to you, aren’t they?”

“They are, but it’s a promise to ensure that I stay and you come back.” Leo placed the red scale into Blake’s hand. He slowly curled their fingers over the scale to ensure it was secured and smiled up at Blake. “Take care of the scale, this was my father’s scale. It needs to come back to me because my dad’s scale will get lonely otherwise.” Leo held up the scale still around his neck that was a dark green color that was almost the same shade as Blake’s eyes with hints of blue tinted in it. “So promise to come back as well and I will stay.”

Blake knelt back down and looked Leo in the face with a smile. “It’s a promise, Leo."

When they were finally done with their farewells, Leo watched Blake leave the beach and head back home. A smile never left Leo’s face as he slipped back into the water to where he was currently staying.


	3. Chapter 3

After saying farewell to Blake, Leo had returned to the underwater cave he currently calls home with no issue. It was by chance that Leo had found this underwater cave as he had been exploring the area while thinking that he should probably find a place to rest. He had gotten great at finding places that was undisturbed by humans or by other merpeople. Thus, when he saw the thick kelp growing undisturbed in a rock wall, he had gotten curious and explored it. He had been shocked to discover the underwater cave and the little pocket of air and outcrop of land. It was the perfect place for him.

Leo took some of the older kelp covering the entrance as he went into the cave. It was a short swim to the little pocket of air and once he was there, he placed the kelp he picked on the slowly growing pile he had. He quickly arranged the pile to be even, ensuring that he pulled out the ones that were too old or falling apart out. Once that was done, he lifted himself onto the outcrop and laid on the pile of kelp with a content sigh. 

Leo settled in for the rest of the night with a sigh, looking forward to when he could see Blake again.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Blake was slow to return to his home, or at least the place where he slept. How could he call it a home when the people who once made it a home were no longer there? All that was left was empty halls filled with memories and an aunt who didn't care for him. All he had left the money he had inherited from his parents and sister. He didn't want to deal with his aunt, not now, not after he had the best night in so long.

He entered the house as quietly as he could without alerting his aunt of his return. It was too late in the night for him to deal with her. All he wanted to do was fall onto his bed and think about the merman he had just met. He had so many more questions he wanted to ask him like where he was born, exactly how long he had lived, and what he did while he travelled. There was just too many questions for him to ask.

“And where have you been, young man?” A woman's voice drifted through the foyer.

Blake inwardly groaned at the sound of his aunt. He really had been hoping she would have been asleep by this time or at least passed out drunk. Maybe it was too small of a blessing to be granted by whatever higher being there was.

“Well, young man, I'm waiting.” 

“I went down to the beach, Aunt,” Blake answered as he walked up the stairs. He didn't pause to look at her as he continued up the steps. He didn't want to continue the conversation or any other with his aunt. 

“And what in the world were you doing down at the beach? Don't you know you have a meeting with your potential fiancée?”

Blake paused at what his aunt said and he wanted to scream at her. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want to get married to some girl he never met. He wanted to scream at her how he didn't like girls in that way, that he like boys. That he has always liked boys and his parents accepted him for it. That they would want him to get married to someone he truly loved and cared for, not some woman who wants everything but him. He didn't want that.

“I am not going,” Blake stated. There was no room for argument, but his aunt still seemed to find room.

“What are you talking about? Of course you are going!” Blake's aunt shrill voice said. “This is for your future and the company. You have been single for too long, never going on dates with any of those lovely women I introduced or mingle with them at any of the parties the company throws.”

Blake sighed as his aunt listed what she deemed was his faults. He didn't want to deal with this, not anymore. Whatever good mood he had from meeting Leo was now gone as his aunt continued to talk in the background.

“I am going to bed, Aunt,” Blake interrupted. Blake didn't want to say what came next, but he knew it was the only way for him to get her to be quiet and leave him alone for the rest of the night. “I'll meet her, but that does not mean we will be engage.”

His aunt had a large smile on her face at Blake's words and Blake knew that she only heard the fact that he would meet her. He felt like breaking something, but knew if he did, his aunt would have another reason to berate him.

“Yes, yes, that's a good idea, Blake. It's already late and you are meeting her in less than six hours,” she said as she began making shooing motions with her hands. “Rest up Blake and make sure you are presentable.”

Blake gave a sharp nod of his head. He made his way up the stairs as fast as he could without alerting his aunt that he wanted to get away from her presence as fast as he could. His could feel a migraine forming and Blake sincerely hoped he would be able to use it as an excuse to why he couldn't show up to that meeting. 

Blake got to his room and collapsed on the bed. He didn't care that he was still covered in salt and sand from the beach. Just talking to his aunt, despite it being only for a short amount of time, was taxing for him. He could never get used to her or her intolerable opinions, especially when it covered his supposed future.

A long sigh escaped him as he tried to forget about the meeting he had tomorrow. However, as much as he tried he couldn't. He wanted to be away from everything.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Blake was awoken by the ray of sunlight that filtered through the drapes. He covered his eyes and groaned as he was woken up when all he wanted to do was sleep. He didn’t want to leave the comfort of his bed as that would mean that he would have to face the day that his aunt had planned for him. 

A glint on his sheets caught his eye and Blake reached his hand for it. When he grasped it, it was smooth and cool to the touch. A smile formed on Blake’s face as he realized what he had grasped. He held the scale up to the sunlight and was memorized by the deep red the scale was and how at a certain angle it looked almost black. The scale was beautiful and Blake briefly thought back to what Leo’s scales looked like. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recall the exact shade Leo’s scales were, but he had a feeling it was a beautiful color. It might not be the same as the scale he was holding, but it was probably even more beautiful.

A knock on the door interrupted Blake from his musings and he was quick to sit up. The door had opened and a maid had come in with her head slightly bowed. She held a pile of clothes that Blake assumed was the outfit that his aunt wanted him to wear for the meeting. He frowned at the thought, but didn’t say anything.

“Master, your aunt said it was time for you to wake up. I’m sorry if I had disturbed you,” the maid apologized as she laid the clothes out on the bedside table. “Here are the clothes that your aunt wants you to wear. If you’ll excuse me.” The maid quickly left the room after saying what she needed to say.

Blake felt his frown deepen as the maid left. He looked over to the clothes and knew that what his aunt pick was probably something that would bring out his features in order to make him seem more attractive to whoever he was meeting. It was a pain to think about, but the only way to get his aunt off his case was to go to the meeting and find ways to make it impossible for the woman to be his fiancee. If he could find any faults than he wouldn’t have to listen to his aunt about it at least for a while. At least Blake hoped that would be the case. 

Without any further delay, Blake got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. It didn't take long for him to finish his shower, but he wished it did so he could stall the inevitable. Sure it might not prevent it, but maybe if he stalled enough his aunt would stop the meeting. Then again, his aunt would probably just barge in to make him get ready. 

Blake wrapped a towel around his waist after drying his body and hair for the most part.  He went to his closet to take out clothes for himself, completely ignoring the clothes that his aunt had picked for him.

What he grabbed from his closet was a black button down and matching black jeans that fitted his form. It would be more comfortable than whatever was chosen for him. He grabbed his phone from the charger, along with his wallet, and left his room to go to the garage.

His aunt was already in the garage waiting for him with a frown adorning her face. She was impatient tapping her right foot as she stood in front of what would be the car they would take.

“Are you ready to go?” his aunt inquired. “We were suppose to be on our way there or already finished parking.”

“I was showering,” Blake stated. Then with an inquiring look said, “Unless you don't mind me going to this meeting still covered in sand and salt?” Blake saw his aunt bristle slightly before she made a sound to show her distaste and got in the driver seat. Blake got in the passenger seat and immediately looked out the window. He prayed the car drive and meeting would go by fast.

“Why aren't you wearing the outfit I picked for you?” his aunt inquired. 

_ There goes wishful thinking, _ Blake thought. 

“I didn't think it would matter what I wore to this meeting,” Blake lied. He didn't deign to look at his aunt. Instead Blake opted to close his eyes and drown out whatever else his aunt had to say.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Blake sat in front of who his aunt had chosen as his potential fiancée. He frowned as he looked her over. The woman looked young, maybe four years younger than him. She had blonde hair and pale blue eyes that looked like ice in an otherwise innocent face. The smile she had on her face didn't sit well with Blake as he continued to examine the woman.

“Blake, this is Alicia,” Blake's aunt introduced.

“It's nice to meet you, Blake,” Alicia smiled. The smile was cold and sharp. She held up her hand in order for Blake to take it.

Blake nodded his head and ignored the hand offered to him. He looked out the window to where the ocean was and wished he was out there. He wanted this meeting to be over and night to fall already. He wanted to see Leo.

“Blake, don't be rude and say something to Alicia,” Blake's aunt chastised. He could hear the clear disapproval in her voice.

Blake glanced over to Alicia with a stoic expression. “I would rather be anywhere, but here right now. The only reason why I am here is because dearest Aunt wants me to marry someone I am not in love with for the sake of the  _ company, _ ” Blake stated bluntly. He then turned back to the window uncaring about his now fuming aunt. 

“Blake--” his aunt started, but was interrupted by a loud laughter. 

Blake raised a brow and looked at Alicia.

“And here I thought I was the only one forced into this meeting.” Alicia word a large smile as she looked at Blake. 

“Alicia!” Alicia’s guardian exclaimed. 

Blake watched as Alicia turned to her guardian with a raised brow. Her expression was mocking when she began to speak. 

“Why, Mother dearest, don't you know it's impolite to raise your voice in a restaurant, especially in front of guests? Why Mr. Tobaru I am terribly sorry for the actions of my mother.”

Blake had a smirk on his face as he was addressed. Whatever misconceptions he had of the woman in front of him were completely erased. He side glanced his aunt and his smirk grew even wider at her withering expression daring him not to do anything. It was a shame he was.

“Nonsense Ms. Vincent. It's my aunt's and mine fault since she raised her voice first. If anything, we should be the one to apologize to you.” Blake’s smirk turned into a full blown smile as he addressed Alicia.

Alicia wore the exact same grin as Blake as she said, “I believe, Mr. Tobaru, that we can come to a mutual decision for both of our companies without our need for marriage.”

“I believe we can,” Blake agreed. “Shall we discuss this over a drink? Somewhere that is much more appropriate than having our dear guardians listen to us drone on about it.”

“Yes, let's do so.”

Blake and Alicia both stood up and left the restaurant, leaving his aunt and Alicia’s mother in a stupor. 


	4. Chapter 4

Blake and Alicia shortly found a cafe upon leaving their guardians at the restaurant. They had decided to continue their discussion about their respective companies without any interference. Though it wasn't much as they could only supply the minimum information they could exchange on such short notice.

“I believe that despite what happened, we really will make great partners, Ms. Vincent,” Blake said upon nearing the end of their discussion.

“I believe so as well, Mr. Tobaru,” Alicia said with a smile.

A phone ringing interrupted their conversation and Alicia was quick to look through her purse and pull out her smartphone. She looked at the caller ID, a smile that was softer, more gentle than any Blake had seen on her face before, filled her face. She quickly excused herself to take the call and Blake watched as she did.

Her expression remained soft and Blake wondered who was on the other line to cause that expression. He had never seen that expression on anyone's face before. At least not with his aunt around. If anything, the closest he could think of was his parents when they looked at each other. Yet, he wasn't sure if it was the same expression as it had been so long since he had thought of his parents.

Alicia had shortly returned upon finishing her call and her expression still remained the same. It wasn't cold like when they had first met, but warmer. Blake thought that look suited Alicia more than the icy eyes and distant expression from before.

“I'm sorry about that,”Alicia apologized.

“You don't need to apologize, it looked like an important call,” Blake waved away her concern.

Alicia’s expression turned grateful. “Thank you, it really was.” Alicia’s voice had trailed off towards the end as she gazed into the distance. “That was my girlfriend…”

“Your girlfriend?” Blake rose a brow at the new information.

“She's the reason I didn't want to get married,” Alicia explained. “She's honestly the best thing to happen to me in this life. I want to be with her.”

“Does your mother know about her?” Blake inquired.

The smile that was on Alicia’s face slowly disappeared as she looked into the teacup that was nearly empty. Her lips slipped into a frown. Nearly ten minutes had passed before Alicia began to speak.

“She knows and she doesn't care. All she cares for is the company's future and not my happiness…” Alicia took a breath before continuing, “She has tried countless times to make us break up. She has even bribed her multiple times to break up with me.” Alicia placed her elbow on the table and covered her eyes with her hand. Her shoulders were shaking a bit in what must have been past memories surfacing in her mind. “My mother has caused her so much pain and I couldn't do anything to stop it. And despite it all, she stayed with me. She loves me for me and not what my money can buy her.”

“She sounds like a really great person,” Blake answered honestly.

“Thanks, she really is.” Alicia smiled at Blake as she sat up straight. “What about you?”

Blake tilted his head in confusion. What about him?

“Is there a particular reason you didn't want to get married?”

“I prefer guys over girls,” Blake answered.

“So the necklace is from your boyfriend?”

Blake's hand shot up to where the scale was showing and wrapped his fingers around it. He hadn't even realized it was out until Alicia told him.

“Ah, no, this is from a friend,” Blake got out after a few moments. “It's a promise.”

Alicia rose a brow at Blake's words. “A  _ friend _ doesn't just give a necklace for a simple promise.”

Blake could feel his cheeks heating up at the implications of Alicia’s words. It wasn't true, but it was still embarrassing. “You got it wrong, it's just a promise to meet again before he goes to his next destination.”

“Next destination? Is he a traveler for his job?”

“No, he just likes to travel?” Blake ended with a confused tone. He wasn't sure how to describe Leo without giving away that he was a merman.

“Is he a son of another company or something since he doesn't do it for his job?”

“No, he just goes where the winds go I guess.”

“So he’s another rich kid?”

“Nothing like that,” Blake said as he tried to think of another way to describe Leo. How exactly do you tell someone about merpeople without giving it away? “He does a lot of foot traveling?”

“Foot traveling?”

“I’m not sure how to describe what he does for a living, just that he travels a lot and he goes where he wants to go.”

Alicia smiled at Blake. “He sounds like an interesting person and a free person. I envy how he is free to travel to wherever his heart desires.” She turned her head to look out towards the street. A longing look flashed through her eyes and Blake knew that feeling all too well. He often wore it when he was alone and just staring out his window or when he was alone on the beach.

“Maybe it’s not too late,” Blake offered. “You can leave the company in your most trusted advisor and just run things behind the scenes if they ever need you. You can be free from your mother and be with your love.”

“I wish it was that easy,” Alicia said. “My mother owns a third of the stocks and until she passes it on to me or sells it, I can’t leave the company. My mother can’t do anything to help the company as it was my father’s, but maybe in the future I can.”

“You most definitely will. You can’t give up hope.”

“Thanks, Blake,” Alicia thanked gratefully. “The same goes for you. I’m sure one day you will also be free from the same burden.”

Blake smiled and nodded his head. “One day.”

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

When Alicia had left to go be with her love, Blake had ended up wandering the city and slowly making his way to the beach where he would see Leo again. Along the way, he ended up picking up things that he thought Leo would like. Throughout his exploration of the city, he tried to find something that would last for a long time to gift to the merman. He wanted to give Leo something to remember him by before the merman decided to leave for his next destination. He hoped that Leo would at least remember him (and maybe some part of Blake hoped that some part of Leo would always return to the same beach he met Blake years later).

Blake stopped in front of another window when he saw something catch his eyes. He looked towards the object and saw that it was a small locket. There was a small sapphire gem at the top of the locket and an emerald gem at the bottom with a seashell engraved in it. Blake didn’t think about what he was going to do next, but he knew that the locket would be perfect as a gift for Leo. He stepped into the store.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Blake looked at his phone as he quickly rushed down to the beach. He saw that it was nearly midnight and hoped that Leo would already be waiting for him where they had departed the previous night. When he had finished his business at the jewelry store, Blake had gone home to take a quick nap, but due to the little amount of sleep he had gotten the previous night and the verbal lashing he basically got from his aunt upon his return to the mansion he had slept longer than he wanted to, but not enough to fully recover his energy. Upon waking up he had noted that it was late and had gotten ready as fast as he could. He had run out of the mansion with a bag full of treats for Leo and his gift was held in his hand.

As soon as the beach was within sight, Blake felt his heart race even faster as he noticed a figure seated on the sandy shore where the waves lapped at it. Blake slowed his run to a walk and a smiled grew across his face. Leo was already waiting for him and he felt his heart soar at the thought that Leo really did keep his promise.

“Did I keep you waiting?” Blake asked once he was close enough. He sat next to Leo with a smile as he placed his phone in his shirt pocket.

Leo looked at Blake with a smile of his own before he made clicking noises. This had caused Blake to frown as Leo had been able to speak English perfectly last night. Then he remembered that Leo took some of his blood the previous night before he had spoken to him in English.

“Do you need to drink my blood again?” Blake asked. He brought up his right hand to hold it out for the other to take if he truly needed to drink his blood.

Leo shook his head and gave a slight cough. “Sorry, I forgot that I had to switch tongues.” Leo had an apologetic face as he said this.

“Were you hanging around other merpeople?” Blake inquired. The thought that there were more merpeople around the area excited him and he wondered if he would be able to see them. “Are there more around the area?”

Leo shook his head. “After I had woken from my slumber, I had gone to play with the pod of dolphins in the area. They had some young ones as well and they were so cute! They stuck by my side and tried to get me to keep playing with them until they were too exhausted to continue. You should’ve seen it!” The smile Leo wore grew even wider and Blake thought that he wanted Leo to always smile like that.

“Maybe you can take me there to play with them one day?” Blake suggested.

If it was even possible, Leo’s smile grew even wider. “Yes, yes I can!”

“I’ll hold you to that promise.” Blake could feel the smile he had been wearing since seeing Leo grow even wider. He couldn’t wait to see Leo in the water where he was able to freely move to his heart’s desire. For a moment, Blake could see Leo moving in the water and he thought it would probably be the most beautiful thing in the world.

“By the way,” Leo spoke up after a moment of silence. “What is in that?” Leo had pointed to the bag that rested on Blake’s lap with a look of open curiosity on his face.

“Oh!” Blake exclaimed in remembrance. He had forgotten about the bag upon hearing that he might be able to see Leo swim. “These are for you actually!” Blake unzipped the bag and held it towards Leo to look at the contents of the bag.

Leo looked in it and slowly pulled out some of the items. His brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at a package that contained some cookies. “What is this, Blake?”

“They’re cookies,” Blake answered as he took the package from Leo and opened it. He had one of them to Leo.

“Cookies? What do you do with it?” Leo tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the cookie, flipping it front and back to examine it.

“You eat it!” Blake took out his own cookie and bit into it to show Leo that he could eat it. He watched as Leo copied him and his smile grew at the look of wonder that crossed the merman’s face.

Leo looked towards him with the same expression still on his face as he said, “What is this flavor? It’s so different from what I’m used to! It’s…” Leo paused as he tried to find the words to describe what he was tasting. “I don’t think I can explain it… It doesn’t taste like the ocean or river water. It’s something that we don’t have?”

“It might be that it tastes sweet?” Blake offered.

“What is ‘sweet’?”

“It’s what you’re probably tasting right now. Humans have different types of tastes beside what the ocean or fresh water taste like. There’s bitter, salty, sweet, spicy, and probably a whole bunch that I’m missing, but it’s never a dull moment when you eat something.”

Blake could see a gleam of excitement in Leo’s eyes as he mentioned the different tastes. Blake’s excitement grew as he began to take out different items from the bag that Leo could try. He wanted to see what sort of face Leo would make at each new food he tried. Blake wasn’t disappointed at what he saw. He quickly saw that Leo preferred sweet items over bitter items and watched as Leo ate through those items while Blake ate what Leo didn’t care for.

While Leo was on the last item of food, Blake took out his phone to check the time. It was nearing early morning, but he didn’t mind. He was having fun and he wanted his time with Leo to keep going. However, he knew he had to go back at one point or another as he had to check in on any emails he had gotten in the past few days from the company to ensure there were no problems going on. Though as he looked at Leo’s happy expression, he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. He felt happy in Leo’s presence, something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Without realizing what he was doing, Blake leaned his body against Leo’s and rested his head on the merman’s shoulder. A soft smile played along his lips as he closed his eyes, he could feel warmth flow throughout his body and he knew it was because he was with Leo.

“Blake? Are you okay?” Leo asked in concern. Blake could feel Leo’s fingers brush his hair from his forehead, but he didn’t open his eyes. He just wanted to enjoy this moment.

“I’m fine,” Blake answered softly. “I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.”

“You should go home to sleep, Blake. It’s not good to sleep out in the open.”

“It’s fine, I just want to stay with you a bit longer.”

“But I have to go before more humans show up.”

“Until sunrise…” Blake got out as he slowly felt his consciousness slip into dreams. “Just until sunrise…then you can wake me up…and go…”

Blake could feel Leo’s head rest against his.

“Until first light then.”

Blake let sleep take over him, but before it fully did, he heard soft humming coming from Leo. A small smile grew on his face at the sound.


	5. Chapter 5

Leo was smiling as he sat with Blake sleeping at his side. He didn't know why he was smiling, but he knew it was probably because of the human by his side. Despite Blake being a human, Leo found them to be endearing and comfortable to be around. And though he knew that he couldn't stay in the area for long, Leo wanted to stay with Blake. He wanted to learn more about the human world from Blake and only Blake.

Was he being selfish to want that? Leo wasn't sure, but he wanted to be selfish just this once. Just this one time, he wanted to be with this human who had such a kind heart. A human that didn’t attack him for his flesh like those he met in the past.

“You are very kind, Blake,” Leo whispered against Blake’s head. “If I could become human, I really would like to be with only you. And I hope you don’t wish for death anymore, even if it’s silly, but I really want you to keep living.” Leo turned his head to nuzzle his nose against Blake’s hair. “I hope you’ll live for a long time so I can keep seeing you.”

Leo gently laid his head against Blake’s head with a sad smile. He knew he had to leave the area soon, but the thought saddened him. He knew it was irrational, to get so attached to a human he had just met the previous night, but he had always been interested in them. Yet, his fascination was never enough to keep him in any one area long enough to develop attachments. He was a wanderer, he had been, since he was orphaned all those years ago by the humans who had caused his parents’ death.

The thought of his parents’ death reminded Leo of his past hatred for them when he had grown old enough to understand that humans were greedy and cruel to merpeople when it came to immortality. However, he had understood that that was how humans were.He had grown more interested in the way they kept evolving the longer he watched them change. And now? Now he was more interested in staying with the human by his side.

_ Is it wrong that I want to stay by this human’s side for as long as they would have me?  _ Leo thought as he stared out at the night sea. The ocean was calm for the time of night and Leo was grateful for it. If the waves had been rough, he wouldn’t have been able to sit next to Blake the way he currently was. He was happy at the contact and though it was weird to be seated next to someone like this, it was comfortable to him.

There was no answer to Leo’s question, but Leo didn’t need one. He would find a way to stay by Blake’s side somehow.

Leo sat in silence for the remainder of the night as he watched over Blake and the slow lapping of the ocean. His thoughts drifting to any possible ideas that can lead him to be able to be with Blake without any need to kill a human. For Leo knew that if he killed a human then Blake would most likely be unable to stay with him on the premise that he killed and ate a human despite his want to be with the human. It was a constant blockage in Leo’s head as he couldn’t come up with anything. Thus, when the first rays of the sun started turning the sky a multitude of pink, orange, and blue hues, Leo finally realized that he had a solution to his problem or at least a temporary one.

“Blake,” Leo whispered gently to try and wake the human up. He gently shook the human awake without dislodging them from his shoulder and was shortly rewarded with a small grunt for his efforts. “Blake, first light is here and it is time for me to go and for you to return to your home.”

“Just five more minutes,” Blake mumbled out as they turned their head more to bury their face against Leo’s neck. Blake had brought their arms up to wrap them around the merman and Leo couldn’t help the smile at the action. Blake was like a baby octopus with the way they were clinging to Leo.

“No, Blake,” Leo admonished gently. “You need to get up before more humans come. If not and I’m seen, I won’t be able to come back again for a long time.”

This got Blake to wake up instantly and they quickly straightened out of their slouch position and looked around the area to see if there really were any other humans. Only when they seemed to see no other human did they relax. They turned to Leo with a small smile.

“Sorry about that,” Blake apologized. “I didn’t mean to break our promise about you going.”

“It’s okay Blake.” Leo smiled. “You were adorable with the way you clung like a baby octopus.”

Blake’s cheeks turned red and it quickly solidify that humans were indeed capable of turning different shades of colors like octopuses in Leo’s head.

“W-Well, I um- I didn’t mean to cling to you like an octopus,” Blake sputtered.

Leo smiled as he brushed a loose strand of hair from Blake’s eyes. “It’s okay. It was cute.” Leo could slowly feel the warmth of the sun hit his face and knew it was time for him to go. “I have to go now, Blake,” Leo informed.

Blake frowned, but didn’t say anything. However, their eyes did shortly light up as they reached into their pants pocket and fumbled with something. They shortly pulled out a small box—to Leo’s understanding of what humans call the small item—and held it Leo.

Leo looked at it questioningly as he slowly took the proffered box and tilted it this way and that. He didn’t understand why Blake had given him a box, but it must mean something if the human even offered it.

“Thank you, Blake,” Leo thanked even though he didn’t know what he was supposed to do with the item. “It is a very lovely box.”

Blake laughed and quickly said, “You have to open the box before you say ‘Thank you,’ Leo.”

“Oh.” Leo felt slightly embarrassed as Blake told him that. He didn’t realize that he was supposed to open it like a treasure chest he would sometimes find at the bottom of the ocean. He looked for the front and slowly opened it to see a small gold stone with two rocks in it and a seashell engraved on it. He examined it in the light and brought it closer, trying to understand why Blake had given him the item. Pulling it away, Leo lifted it out of the box and was surprised to see that it was attached to a tie like his parents’ scales were. Then, he looked at Blake with wide eyes.

Blake’s cheeks seemed to darken even more at his gaze and he looked towards the stone with a shy smile.

“It’s a locket so that way you can always remember me when you decide to leave the area,” Blake explained. “Although, I think it would be nice if you could stay longer, but if not, it would also be nice to think about me from time to time when you look at the locket.”

Leo looked back at the “locket” and couldn’t help the overwhelming warmth that entered his heart. Blake had thought about him and had gotten him something he could carry with him wherever he went and Leo smiled the widest grin, he felt he ever made in the time between now and his parents’ death.

Leo turned to look at Blake with the smile still in place and reached out to grab the back of Blake’s neck and brought their foreheads together. He ignored the small yelp of surprise in his excitement at the gift he received from the human. Leo closed his eyes at the contact and his smile lessened to something he knew was more gently, more intimate.

“Thank you, Blake,” Leo breathed out.

They didn’t part from their position for a while and when they did, Leo felt a mild disappointment fill him, but he knew he really had to leave or he would get caught. Yet, at the moment, he didn’t care. He wanted to be with this human just for a little while longer.

“You should go soon,” Blake whispered as they looked into Leo’s emerald eyes.

“I should,” Leo agreed, but he didn’t make a move to leave at all.

“I’ll see you tonight again, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be waiting for you in this spot again.”

“Okay.”

Leo laid his forehead against Blake again in a silent farewell before he pushed himself into the slowly rising tides. He dragged himself deeper into the water until he could swim without any trouble. He quickly resurfaced to look towards the shore to see where Blake was.

Blake was standing in the same spot they had been sitting. He had a smile on their face upon seeing Leo and waved to him. Leo felt touched to know that Blake hadn’t gone straight home upon his leaving. He waved farewell and ducked under the water.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Leo quickly swam out to the deep open sea. He followed what he knew was the last place a school of merpeople he passed last lived. He needed to get over to them as soon as possible in order to stay with Blake. He just needed to find them.

It wasn’t long before Leo picked up the sounds of merpeople in the distance. Upon hearing them, Leo picked up his speed and swam towards where he heard them. Thus, when he came upon them, he was relieved to see two merpeople he had made friends with in his short stay with the school and who had once known his parents.

“Maria! Rakki!” Leo called out as he slowed to a stop in front of them.

The two merpeople looked towards Leo with wide eyes before the mermaid with the silver hair smiled.

“Leo, what are you doing here? We thought that you had officially moved on from the area a while ago,” the silver haired mermaid said. Her silver eyes were filled with happiness as she swam closer to Leo in order to hug him.

“I actually had a question, Maria,” Leo answered as he hugged the silver haired mermaid. “For both of you.” Leo glanced at the other mermaid, Rakki, with a smile. He pulled away from Maria’s hug. “Do you two think you can help me?”

Maria and Rakki glanced at each other then back to Leo and back again before they gave a nod to the merman before them.

“What can we do to help Leo?” Rakki inquired.

“When I stayed here, you said there was a sea witch around the area,” Leo started, “Do you know where to find them?”

“Why would you need to find him?” Maria inquired. “He is normally busy trying to clean the ocean of the filth that the humans have tossed in our home.”

“I…” Leo paused and swallowed pass the lump that had formed in his throat upon his nervousness to reveal to the two mermaids he had treated like friends and family. “I want to be human.”

“You don’t need the sea witch to become human,” Rakki stated. “You just need to ingest human blood and flesh.”

“Rakki is right, dear. All you have to do is take a human from the surface in order to drown them and then eat them. There’s no need to have the sea witch help you.”

“I don’t want to kill any humans,” Leo whispered softly.

“What do you mean, Leo?” Maria questioned. Her features furrowed upon Leo’s words as she couldn’t understand why Leo suddenly didn’t want to kill a human. She especially didn’t understand why he didn’t want to kill one after what had happened with his parents. “We thought you hated the humans that killed your parents? That you wouldn’t have any remorse in killing one when you wanted to become human?”

“What changed your mind, Leo?” Rakki asked instead.

Leo looked away from the expectant gazes of his friends. He didn’t know what to say to truly appease their curiosity. All he had to give them, was the truth and he wasn’t sure how they would take the truth. Leo contemplated for a few seconds on whether or not he should just tell them the truth or not, but shortly realized that if he didn’t they would never tell him where the sea witch currently resided. Thus, with a deep breath, Leo tried to explain why he didn’t want to eat the flesh of a human.

“I met a human a few nights ago and I was going to kill them, but they were so interesting to me,” Leo explained. “They were different from the humans that had caused my parents’ death. They wanted to die and I was struck by how it was so different from what I was used to.”

“And you wanted to know the human more because of that?”

Leo nodded as he looked towards the sand. He couldn’t deny what Rakki was saying because it was completely true. He did want to know more about Blake, he wanted to stay by Blake’s side and he wasn’t even sure why he wanted to, just that he did.

“Well, I guess there’s no helping it,” Rakki stated. “We’ll help you find the sea witch.”

Leo snapped his head up to look at Maria and Rakki with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe that they would help him when they still hated humans for what they had done to his parents. They still resented humankind for taking away their friends and yet they were willing to help him. Leo smiled at the two mermaids.

“Thank you so much!” Leo beamed. He pulled the two mermaids into a hug and repeatedly thanked them.

“You’re welcome, dear,” Maria said as she patted Leo’s back. “All we want for you is to be happy and if this human is what makes you happy then we will help you to become human without the need to kill one.”

“Maria’s right, guppy,” Rakki agreed. “Even your parents would want you to be happy. And if this human is what makes you happy then so be it.”

Leo felt touched at Rakki’s words about his parents. For in the back of his mind he had always worried what his parents would’ve thought about him wanting to be human after their deaths had been caused by humans. He had worried that he hadn’t been picking a choice that would make them proud of him, but knowing that Rakki knew what his parents wanted for him was enough to ease his mind about turning human in order to be with a human.

“Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed to hear that.”

“No need to thank us, dear,” Maria dismissed. “Now in order to find the sea witch, you’re going to have to really listen to our instructions. He’s very hard to find if you don’t do exactly like we tell you, got it?”

Leo nodded.

“Good, now the first thing you need to know is that he tends to stay close to places that have human shipwrecks and the last we heard was that he was in the area now with the latest wreckage.”

“He’s here?”

“Yes, and he’s only staying long enough to ensure that the oil doesn’t spill out too much, so you have to go as soon as possible as it’s already been a few days since we heard of this.”

“Okay. Which direction do I head towards?”

“In the direction of where the sun sets.”

“You better get going, guppy.”

“Got it!” Leo turned in the direction of where the sun set with a determined look on his face. He was about to head off, but paused as he turned back to Maria and Rakki. “Thank you, again, for everything.”

Maria and Rakki just smiled, this reminded Leo of his parents when they were proud of him. “Just live and be happy, Leo. We will always be here if you ever find yourself in need of help, even when you turn human.”

Rakki wrapped her arm around Maria’s waist with a wide toothy smile. “Especially if you want to vent about any future problems you have with humans!”

Leo laughed as he nodded his head. “I will.”

With that, Leo swam off to visit the sea witch that would hopefully solve his problem.


	6. Chapter 6

As Leo swam, he kept his eyes out for the sunken ship that Maria and Rakki had indicated was in the area. He wasn’t sure if he was close or if he still had a while to swim, but before Leo knew it, he saw the silhouette of a human ship in the distant. Hope filled him as he swam closer and could see that it looked like it only recently sunk. With that, Leo knew that he had found the right spot.

He swam around the ship, looking for any movement that seemed off. Leo looked around the outside a few times to see if he was missing anything, but when he didn’t see anything, he knew that he would have to go into the wreckage to see if the sea witch was in a place that he couldn’t see from the outside. He dearly hoped that he hadn’t missed the sea witch.

Leo slipped through a hole in the side of the ship and decided that if he hadn’t seen the sea witch from the outside that he was farther in. He wasn’t sure in which direction he was supposed to go, but he swam where he thought would be possible locations to look for the sea witch.

He kept moving through the winding passages of the sunken ship until he finally heard something to the right. It didn’t sound like a fish or any other creatures of the sea, but perhaps it was who he was looking for. At least he hoped it was.

Farther down the winding passage of the ship, Leo could hear a voice bouncing off the metal walls. They sounded frustrated and Leo was worried that maybe he had found the wrong shipwreck. Or at least he thought he did until he heard another voice let out a loud laugh.

“You’re certainly trying way too hard, Leonidas,” a low voice said with mirth. 

“I’m not trying hard enough, Pierce,” Leonidas said with a snap. “This oil spill is not going to just vanish without me to do it.”

“Leonidas, you are pushing yourself way too hard.” There was worry in the merperson’s voice. There seemed to be a pause before the mer spoke again. “Leonidas, please don’t push yourself to the brink of exhaustion again,” Pierce said gently. “I don’t want to see you whither again.”

Leonidas sighed. “I know Pierce, I know. I’ll take a break now.”

“Good, because I think we have a guest with us now.”

Leo froze at Pierce’s words. He didn’t realize that he had swam out from where he was to be in the open where the mer, Pierce he assumed, could see him. He ducked his head in embarrassment at being caught, but he had done what he needed--he had found the sea witch.

“I have a request of the sea witch,” Leo said as he looked between the two merpeople.

The one closest to Leo, who looked like his tail was a cross between a shark and one of the more brightly colored fish spoke.

“And what is this request you have, young one?” His green eyes stared intently into Leo’s eyes that caused Leo to feel like his soul was being laid bare before the mer. It was a feeling that Leo didn’t like, but would deal with it if the mer he assumed was the sea witch helped him.

“I want to be human--” Leo was cut off by the other mer.

“Just kill a human and eat them!” The other mer whose tail was that of a lionfish, but a bright blue that some of the reef fish had.

“Pierce, I do not believe he would be coming here for my help if he just killed a human and ate them.” The mer gave Pierce a frown before he addressed Leo. “You have fallen for a human, have you not?”

Leo sputtered and bubbles spilled from his lips from what the mer, who he now knew was Leonidas, said. What Leo felt for Blake wasn’t like that! He didn’t fall for the human, he just felt comfortable and he didn’t want to stay away from them. He wanted to spend his time with them and get to know them in their own world. He didn’t, he didn’t… Did he?

“Young one,” Leonidas called. Leo looked up towards the mer, his head in shambles at the mer’s question still. “You do not need to answer the question. I can see that you yourself don’t even know the answer. However, you should--”

“So what’s your name, Guppy?” Pierce asked, interrupting Leonidas. This also earned Pierce another frown from the sea witch.

“It’s Leo,” Leo answered. Leo shortly tilted his head in confusion as he saw the other mers’ eyes widen in what seemed like surprise.

“Leo?” Pierce inquired. He looked towards Leonidas then back at Leo.

“Um, yes?”

“Your parents are Kaisu and Sora, right?” Leonidas swam closer to Leo and he seemed hesitant to reach out to him, but stopped at the last minute.

“Yes, but how did you know that?” Leo felt even more confused than he was before. He didn’t understand how the sea witch and their companion knew about his parents. Not to mention that they had been gone for so long. “My parents have been gone for a long time.”

A smile appeared on Leonidas’ face as he answered Leo’s question. “That would be because we were once a part of your parents’ school…” There was a slight pause. “...and their friends.”

“Not to mention that your parents named you after this one despite his protest,” Pierce piped in.

Leonidas released a sigh. “Yes, we were close even when we parted. We are sorry for your loss, Leo. When we heard, what had happened we quickly tried to go to where your family was staying to help, but by the time we got there it was too late and we thought all of you had perished.” Leonidas raised his hand as he cupped Leo’s face with a gentle smile. “It would seem we were wrong and I am glad for it.”

Leo felt his heart clenched painfully at Leonidas’ and Pierce’s smile. He didn’t know what to say to the two merpeople who had apparently known his parents before their deaths. What do you say in a situation like that?

Apparently sensing his discomfort, Leonidas drew his hand away and said, “We are getting off current, aren’t we? You asked for my help to turn you into a human without the need to kill one, correct?”

Leo nodded his head. “Is there a way?”

“There are multiple ways,” Leonidas answered. “Although most of them are too harsh for a mer to handle in any way, at least the old ways are.”

“Be happy that Leonidas dedicated his life to find an easier solution for mers to become human after the last sea witch’s attempt,” Pierce stated. “You don’t want to know what those old methods entail for the side effects of becoming human.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it,” Leo said with a small frown. He wasn't sure what those old methods involved, but he was grateful he wouldn't be finding out anytime soon. “So, what do I have to do?”

“You'll have to drink the blood of a human who is willing to be your donor,” Leonidas started, “after I cast the spell on you.”

Leo’s brows furrowed in confusion as he thought of what Leonidas said. “A spell can do that?” Leo asked skeptically. He wasn't sure what the old ways were like, but would a spell last long enough for him to be able to be with Blake? He couldn't really believe it, but then again he wasn't sure what exactly was entailed in the spell.

Leonidas just gave a small smile at Leo. “The spell I made will. It's a simple spell for the most part and will be instantaneous in its transformation, but do be careful. While you will look human on the outside, your insides will be like a mer still.”

“Will it be a problem?”

“Nah, we had a friend who was like you before you were even born. She had fallen in love with a human and asked Leonidas here to help her become human,” Pierce spoke up. “It was actually hilarious watching him agonize over it.” Pierce released a burst of bubbles when Leonidas elbowed him in the ribs. His hand immediately went to rub the spot and pouted at the other mer. “Rude.”

“The one who was rude was you,” Leonidas remarked. He then turned his attention back to the younger mer. “You don't have to drink blood every day, but you will have to drink at least a mouthful every seven sunsets or when you start showing mer features again.”

“Do you know which feature will show up first?” Leo inquired. He needed to know in order to prevent himself from turning back. And this way, he wouldn't have to hurt the donor more than necessary. 

“I can't say for sure as I have only turned our friend with this spell, but for her it had been the gills on her neck, so I would think it would be the gills as it is what helps us breath when we're in water,” Leonidas deduced. “I will say, however, to be careful for your scales might be the first to show.” Leonidas pointed to the markings along his own face for emphasis. 

“I will.”

“Do you understand everything I explained so far?” Leonidas inquired. Leo gave a nod. “Good. Now I'll cast the spell, but remember, you won't turn human unless you have a willing donor.” Again, Leo nodded. “Okay, now let's begin.”

Shortly after, Leonidas began to chant in words that Leo could not understand. The words felt ancient, almost as old as the ocean, and if Leo was to repeat the words without any understanding he would be cursed. Leo shuddered at the thought of what would happen if he did dare say those words. 

As Leonidas continued to chant, Leo felt himself shiver despite the waters being relatively warm. It was as if he was in the coldest sea for that split second before overwhelming warmth enveloped him. Once Leonidas stopped, Leo felt only the water around him as it should've been before the spell. He wasn't sure if it worked and he looked at Leonidas for confirmation.

Small bubbles escaped from Leonidas’ mouth as he leant back and Pierce was quickly there to support him. Pierce had a worried look on his face as he help the sea witch up. 

“Are you okay?” Pierce asked. He only had eyes on Leonidas and for a moment Leo felt like he was intruding on a private moment that he wasn't supposed to witness. 

Leonidas gave a short nod of his head. “I'll be fine, Pierce. The spell just took more out of me than I expected.”

“It's because you're pushing yourself too hard,” Pierce chastised in a soft voice. “You were already tired from the spill, you should've rested before performing the spell.”

“It's okay, Pierce.” Leonidas looked at Leo with a small, tired smile on his face. “Doing this spell is worth it.” Leonidas pushed himself away from Pierce’s arms and swam over to Leo. He placed his hands over Leo’s cheeks and checked him over. “The spell is in place and it won’t wear off so you don’t have to worry about having to come find me in the future. It will allow you to age along with the human who is your donor and in a way it is permanent, but should you ever truly want to be fully human, you will need to kill a human.”

“Will I turn back into a mer in the future after I stop drinking blood years from now?” Leo asked. He was concerned about the possibility of turning back even though it would probably have been years in the future he would truly have to worry.

“If it’s years in the future, I believe you would be fine. We have not seen our friend for many moons and we have traveled everywhere in hopes we would not see her in the ocean as a mer again. If I am to be correct then I believe after a certain number of years you will be human and you will not need to drink blood again.”

Leo nodded and in a sudden burst of gratefulness, he pulled the sea witch in a hug. “Thank you so much.”

Surprised, Leonidas took a few moments to process what was happening before he wrapped his own arms around Leo. He hugged the boy and smiled as he placed his head on top of Leo’s. “You’re welcome, little one.” Leonidas pulled away with a smile. “Now go and be with the human you have befriended.”

Leo nodded and pulled away with a smile. With one last thank you to both the mers, Leo swam away in order to tell Blake the good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, but this chapter didn't want to be written down. Thanks for reading! Please comment or if you have any questions, I'll answer it if it isn't relevant to future points in the story.


	7. Chapter 7

By the time Leo had gotten back, it was nearing the time when the majority of the humans would leave and head back to their homes. All the while, the thought that it was going to be night soon filled Leo with an overwhelming sense of joy. He wanted to see Blake soon and tell him the good news and he wondered what Blake would think of him becoming human in order to stay by his side.

Although Leo wanted to become human, there was a thought in the back of Leo’s mind that caused him to feel a little bit of doubt about what he was doing. That despite the fact that Blake had gifted him the necklace, Leo wasn’t even sure if Blake would truly want him to stay. After all, he was a merman and Blake was a human. And there was the memory of the humans that had caused his parents’ death that lingered in his mind that made him wonder if Blake was truly different. He didn’t want to find out the hard way that Blake was the same as those humans who wanted to see if merpeople’s flesh would allow humans longevity.

Leo shook his head to clear those thoughts from his head. There was no way that Blake was like those humans all those moons ago. And even if they were, there were plenty of opportunities to take him away from the safety of the oceans and to a place that was far away. Blake was definitely not one of those humans. Besides, those humans were probably long gone along with the fact that merpeople actually still exist in the present.

With some time to spare, Leo decided to go do some hunting for food and maybe he could find a gift he could give to Blake that they would like or keep for as long as they lived.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Leo had hunted until the sun had set and was slowly making his way to the shore. He didn't know when Blake would be there, but he wasn't going to risk humans seeing him despite it being night. He couldn't hide the features on his face like some other mers could. And though he wanted to rush over to the shore in order to see Blake, it was best not to in this case.

Fortunately for Leo, he had managed to find something for Blake in the time he had gone hunting. It was a small pearl that was the color of Blake’s eyes with a hint of blue to it that Leo just knew would love. He was even able to find a wristband to fit it in and could use his claws to etch a design into it that was the ocean. The wristband could be untied and fitted so that Blake would be able to adjust it at any time he wanted to.

Upon seeing that he was nearing the shore, Leo propelled himself onto the sands so he would be a bit farther from the sea. All he had to do was wait for Blake show up. He hoped it would be soon. He hoped that Blake wouldn’t mind being his donor as he would not ask anyone else as they were the ones to have earned his trust in the short amount of time they had met.

Leo pulled his tail up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them in order to rest his head against his tail. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the waves lapping at the shore and a smile spread across his face. He couldn’t wait to see Blake.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Leo jolted awake as he felt a touch on his shoulder and his fins fanned out in surprised and he whipped his head towards the thing that startled him. It was only when he got a good look at what had caused him to jump that he realized it was Blake. His body relaxed almost instantly and his fins slowly retracted to their original position when he wasn’t on guard. A smile was on his face and Leo patted the spot next to him. He shifted impatiently as he waited for Blake to sit down and Leo had a brief thought of how it seemed weird that everything out of water seemed so much heavier than what they should be when he heard a soft noise when Blake finally sat down.

“Hello Blake,” Leo greeted immediately.

Leo heard Blake chuckle as they gave their own response. “Hello, Leo. What’ve you been up to today?”

“I met the sea witch earlier today!”

“Sea witches are real?” Blake inquired with wide eyes. “Do they do spells and potions and all those things?”

Leo furrowed his brows in confusion as he wasn’t sure if Leonidas could make potions, but he knew of the spells, so he nodded his head.

“Are they part octopus?”

“Not all of them, but the majority is I believe.”

“That’s so cool to hear.” Blake looked out towards the sea with a far-off expression on their face and Leo wondered what Blake was thinking for him to get such a look. He hadn’t seen that look since the first night they had met and Leo didn’t like that look at all.

“Blake?” Leo called out as he placed his hand on their shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

Blake shook their head and looked back at Leo with a small smile. “Nothing’s wrong, but why did you meet with the sea witch?”

Leo could feel his smile widen as he was brought back to what he wanted to tell Blake in the first place. “The sea witch helped me find a way to become human without the means of having to kill one!”

Blake furrowed their brow in confusion and looked at Leo. “But I thought you had to kill a human?”

“Normally yes, but apparently there were methods to allow merpeople to become human with consequences. Although Leonidas--the sea witch--created a spell that didn’t have the same consequences, there still is a catch.” Here Leo felt nervous as he wasn’t sure how to tell Blake that he needed a willing human to be his donor. He wasn’t sure how they would feel to find out that he would have to drink blood for an undeterminable amount of time. Leo bit his lip as he tried to figure out a way to tell Blake what he had to do, but what could he say that wouldn’t make it sound too bad.

“Leo, what is wrong?” Blake asked in concern. They tilted Leo’s head up and placed one of their fingers against the bottom of Leo’s lip. This caused Leo to immediately stop biting his lip as he didn’t want to accidentally bite Blake with his teeth. He didn’t want Blake to be hurt more than necessary. “What is the catch?”

“I need to drink at least a mouthful of human blood every seven sunsets, but the human has to be willing to do it. And I was wondering…” Leo paused as he didn’t know how to continue his sentence.

“And you were wondering if I would be willing to be your donor?” Blake inquired. His voice was soft, but not in a way that Leo was used to. It was almost empty like Blake had cut themselves off from their emotions and it was because of him. It was because of something that he had said that had caused Blake to cut himself off.

Leo shook his head immediately and began to try to explain what he wanted from Blake. “I wanted to ask you because I wanted to be with you. I don’t want any other human to be my donor when they aren’t you. I want to be by your side when I become human. I want to learn how to be human with you by my side for as long as you’ll have me. And if in time, you don’t want me to be by your side I will leave and return to the ocean to be a merman once more and never become human again.” Leo cupped Blake’s head between his hands as gentle as he could so he would not accidentally hurt the other. Slowly, he brought their heads together so their foreheads would rest against each other. Leo could feel his eyes slip shut as he continued to speak. “I would never ask another human this as they are not the ones I want to spend my time with as a human. It is only you that I want to be human with, Blake. Only you.”

Leo could feel Blake take a deep breath before he let it out with a soft sigh. “I understand now. I’ll be your donor.” There was a smile in Blake’s voice and Leo couldn’t help the smile of his own as he felt Blake place their hands over his own. They stayed that way for a while until it was Blake that pulled away from Leo.

Leo opened his eyes as his hands continued to be held against Blake’s face. Leo’s smile kept its place as he waited for Blake to say something first. He wanted to hear what Blake had to say now that he agreed. However, truthfully, Leo just wanted to hear Blake’s voice.

“What do I have to do now?” Blake asked. His eyes never leaving Leo’s.

Leo looked down as he didn’t know what would be a good way to say he had to bite Blake, but he knew he had to ask as he didn’t know any other way. “I have to bite you or if possible, use my claw to create a slice in your skin to draw blood. It has to be enough for a mouthful or at least that’s what Leonidas said.”

Blake nodded their head and released Leo’s hands from their grip. They then held out their left arm towards Leo. “It doesn’t matter where you have to bite or slice right?”

Leo nodded. “I’m not sure what would be a good spot to draw blood,” Leo said as he looked at Blake’s outstretched arm. He didn’t want to draw blood and hurt Blake more than necessary. Leo looked at Blake with a questioning look. “Where would be good?”

Blake lifted their other hand and ran a finger over their wrist. “If you want a lot of blood then here would be a good spot, but you would have to be careful of cutting me there. If it’s too deep I can bleed out.”

Leo frowned as he looked at the spot that Blake had indicated. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

Blake nodded. “But I don’t know what would be a better spot for you to draw blood.”

The frown was still on Leo’s face as he moved closer to grasp Blake’s arm. He brought his free hand up and used his index finger to cut Blake with. Leo made sure to add enough pressure so that he wouldn’t have to do it more than once. He only stopped when he saw the blood slowly falling from the wound onto his claw. With the sight of the blood, Leo brought his head down to the wound and placed his mouth over it.

Blood filled Leo’s mouth and it was a peculiar taste. It wasn’t a taste like anything in the ocean, but more metallic like some of the fish he had eaten that was too close to the land. The taste wasn’t something Leo cared for but knew he would have to get used to it. Leo gulped down the mouthful of blood and slowly licked away what had escaped from his mouth. He was careful and made sure none of the blood fell into the ocean, completely unaware of Blake’s reaction. With another lick to the wound, Leo made sure the blood flow would stop completely and smiled once it did.

He looked up at Blake with a smile on his face. “Thank you, Blake.”

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Leo doubled over in pain as it felt like a thousand jellyfish were stinging him. He couldn’t even open his mouth in order to scream for relief. It hurt so much and Leo wanted to curl up away from the pain. Leonidas didn’t say anything about how painful it would be or maybe they didn’t know that was the side effect of the spell. A broken sob escaped him as Leo struggled to breathe.

Suddenly, there were arms wrapping around him and Leo didn’t understand what was happening in that moment. He didn’t understand why there were arms wrapping around him and Leo wanted to lash out to prevent any more harm. He would’ve if it wasn’t for a quiet hum.

The sound was soothing for Leo and it seemed to ease away any pain that was lingering. It lulled Leo into a daze as his mind drifted away from the pain and the warmth that lined his back was the only thing that grounded him. He wanted to bury into the warmth and never let go of it.

Leo shuffled his body so that he would be able to feel the warmth along his front instead and wrapped his arms around it. Once he was comfortable, Leo let the rest of his consciousness slip away.


	8. Chapter 8

“Thank you, Blake,” Leo had said with a smile on his face. A smile that Blake honestly wanted to see for years to come if what Leo had said was true--and how Blake desperately wanted it to be true.

What happened next was sudden to Blake as he watched Leo double over in apparent pain. His   
hands immediately shot out to touch the other but paused just before he could. He didn’t know if touching the other would cause more pain or not and he didn’t want to risk the possibility. All he could do was watch as Leo slowly transformed into a human.

The transformation felt like it would go on forever as he watched the gills along Leo’s neck and rib cage slowly disappear and instead leave pink scars in their wake as if the gills were wounds finally healing at long last. Then the fins along his arms were next as they sank into the auburn’s flesh and leaving no trace to show their presence. Blake didn’t know what to make of the   
transformation as more of the features Blake had grown used to seeing on Leo slowly disappeared or transform into something more human.

However, when he heard the choked off sob from the merman, Blake was quick to wrap his arms   
around him. At first, Leo had struggled from him but seemed to be in too much pain to really do any damage. Though when Blake saw Leo’s hand raise slightly as if to lash out, he did something he remembered his mother doing for him when he was scared or crying, he hummed. He hummed a soft melody that his mother had once hummed to him. It was something that had always soothed and eased away the fear or sorrow he couldn’t quite hide from her and now he hoped it would ease the merman’s pain. He ran his hand through the merman’s hair and felt as Leo began to relax into his embrace and Blake was grateful for it.

Blake continued to hum as he held Leo through his transformation. The merman had turned in his arms so that he was now facing Blake and cuddled against him. Blake felt a slight heat rise to his cheeks as the other held onto him tightly. He knew it was because the other was seeking comfort, but there was no denying that Leo was beautiful in his own ways. Though he pushed that thought to the side as he watched the final transformation take place.

The scales of Leo's tail were falling off as if he was molting and Blake wanted to do something to help, but this was far beyond anything he knew. He just watched as the fins of Leo's tail shrunk and took shape of feet before the tail split down the middle to shape two legs.

Upon seeing pale skin, Blake quickly looked away. He waited for a few moments before he was sure the transformation was done. Without jostling Leo too much, Blake shrugged off his jacket to cover the merman up. Once he was able to zip the jacket up, he lifted Leo from the ground and began to carry him.

Blake began to walk to his house and prayed his aunt was still out of the house and at the party she had been insistent about him going to before he feigned being ill. His aunt had bought it and he was able to meet Leo. And now he just hoped his aunt was still gone from the house. He did not need her to question him about Leo or to bring up anything else. The walk to his house was thankfully short and he could see there were no lights on in the windows he could see. However, there was no sense of relief in him at the sight. He knew that just because there were no lights on doesn’t mean his aunt wasn’t there waiting for him in the dark. She had done it enough times when he had snuck out of the house in his teenage years.

Upon reaching the back door, Blake quietly opened the door and took a moment to look around the kitchen. He didn’t want to risk the maid or butler seeing him as he knew they would report what they saw to his aunt. Luckily there was no one there and he was able to make his way through the kitchen and to the stairs without any mishap, though he paused before taking the stairs. He scanned the stairs to see if his aunt was in wait. She wasn’t and Blake was quick to go to his room.

Once entering his room, Blake gently placed Leo on top of his bed. He then went to go retrieve the comforter from his closet in order to lay it on Leo. He wasn’t sure if the merman would get cold or not, but he wasn’t going to take the chance. He tucked the merman in and pulled his desk chair up to the bed.

He leaned back in the chair as his thoughts went over what has been happening over the past few days. He was exhausted, not from the late nights, but from his aunt hounding him about the marriage proposals she kept setting up for him when he had told her multiple times that there would be no marriage. However, there was no listening from the woman as all she saw was expanding his parents' company from what it currently was by marriage as it was easier in her mind for him to marry someone.

Yet, it wasn’t what he thought the company needed. The company needed people who wanted to be open for business with them without the marriage of heirs. He was just grateful that Alicia was against the marriage and open to a business proposal instead.

Glancing over at the clock on his bedside table, Blake saw that it was nearing four in the morning. He would most likely have about four hours of sleep before his aunt would send in a maid to wake him. Then again, she could be completely passed out in her room from being hungover. Still, he would have to be careful to prevent his aunt or any of the maids or butlers from entering his room.

Scratching the back of his head, Blake set his alarm on his phone to eight before he laid his head on the bed. He shut his eyes as he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

_ Beep. Beep. Beep. _

Blake woke to the sound of his phone’s alarm going off. He turned it off as he slowly straightened from his slumped position to stretch his limbs. He then looked towards Leo to see if he had awoken from the alarm but found that the other was still sleeping. A hint of worry entered him as he was unsure of what to do. He didn’t want to wake the other up if it was due to exhaustion from the transformation or if it was a side effect of the magic. He wanted to help, but it was all beyond his knowledge.

“Nnn…”

At the sound, Blake looked towards Leo’s face to see slight movement beneath the merman’s lids before Leo’s eyes opened.

“Where am I?” Leo inquired softly.

“You’re in my room right now,” Blake answered. He moved to help Leo sit up when he saw the other moving. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sore, it’s almost like the aftermath of playing with a large pod of dolphins that got a bit too rough.” Leo smiled up at Blake. “Oh!” Leo exclaimed as he pushed the blankets away from his body. He then turned his body to get out of the bed. A smile on his face as he placed his feet on the ground.

Blake averted his eyes as Leo was still naked. He’d have to take the other shopping to get some clothes for him to fit.

“It worked!” Leo exclaimed happily. He lifted his legs up in the air as he examined his new appendages. “It really worked!” He quickly stood up but lost his bearings as his legs gave out.

Blake was quick to catch the auburn before he was to fall to the ground. “Are you okay? Did the spell not work out?”

Leo shook his head as he slowly straightened up. He still held onto Blake’s shirt as he slowly moved his legs. “I think it’s because I’m not used to them. Though I think with a bit of practice, I should be okay.”

“Okay, but I think for now you should sit down,” Blake suggested. “I’m going to get you some clothes to wear for now.”

“Hmm,” Leo hummed in reply. He took his seat on Blake’s bed while Blake went to his closet to grab some clothes.

Blake searched through his closet to try and find some clothes that would fit the merman. He would pull out clothes that he hadn't worn for a few years to the side and some he had in the back of his closet. He was unsure as to whether they would fit the other, but it would have to do for now until he could take Leo out shopping properly. He grabbed the clothes and turned around to see that Leo was standing and taking small steps around his room. It looked like Leo was getting the hang of walking and Blake smiled. He watched for a few moments more as Leo walked around his room and examined his belongings. The look of curiosity caused the merman’s eyes to shine and Blake wondered what else he could bring to keep that shine in the other’s eyes.

“Blake?” Leo’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Are you alright?”

Blake just smiled as he mentally shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had a lot of time to show Leo new things. For now, they had some errands to run. “Yeah, I’m alright,” Blake answered as he walked over to his bed and placed the small pile of clothes he managed to find. “Here are some clothes for you to wear for now until we go out to get you some clothes.”

“Thanks, Blake.” Leo moved back to the bed and began to look at the clothes that were picked out for him. He tilted his head slightly as he examined the clothes before he picked up some of the clothes. Blake looked at the clothes that Leo had picked and noticed that he had picked those that were similar to the colors of his scales--Blake made a mental note to buy clothes of those colors, but thought that the other would look great in other colors.

“Do humans wear colors depicting how dangerous they can be?” Leo questioned as he eyed a shirt with a bright blue design to it. He slowly pulled on the shorts he had taken from the pile of clothes with a little help from Blake. “There are some colors in the pile that is seen in the ocean, we can determine who is dangerous. Is it the same?”

A chuckle escaped Blake before he answered the other’s question. “No, not quite, though I imagine it would be a lot easier if we did. Humans tend to wear colors for fashion reason or if it compliments them. We don’t wear them to signify if we’re dangerous to each other or not.”

Leo tilted his head as he thought over what Blake said. “Then how do you know who is dangerous or not?”

“We can’t really tell who is dangerous. There are some signs, but they don’t necessarily help.”

The auburn frowned at the answer. “Then it is best to not interact with others too much unless you’re sure they aren’t a threat,” Leo stated with a thoughtful look.

“Well no, sometimes you don’t have a choice on how much you have to interact with others.”

“Humans are weird.”

Blake could only smile at his words. He couldn’t deny that humans weren’t weird. After all, in Leo’s eyes, humans were the weird ones. He won’t say that in Leo’s world everything was simple as the merpeople probably couldn’t change the colors of their scales the way humans change their clothes. There were no hidden motives.

It was as Blake was about to push the thoughts to the side that he heard a small gurgling noise. He furrowed his brow as he tried to pinpoint the source of the sound, but the noise had stopped. He opened his mouth to say something, but Leo was the first to speak.

“Do you have any food, Blake?” Leo inquired. “I’m hungry.”

“Yeah,” Blake answered. He almost wanted to hit himself on the forehead in forgetting that Leo would most likely be hungry. He wasn’t sure when the other had last eaten, but he should’ve been more thoughtful of the other. “Let’s go to the kitchen and see if there’s anything you’ll like.”

“I hope there’s cookies, those were really good!”

Blake just smiled as he led the other to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait everyone! And thank you for being patient with this story. Honestly, for a while, I did lose motivation for this story, but I've decided that I should pick this story up again and finish it! I can't promise when the next update will be, but hopefully, it will be within the next month or so.


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